Sounder.



E. G. WOOD.

SOUNDER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV 16, 1910.

1,109,81 1 Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. C. WOOD.

SOUNDER.

APPLICATION FILE! No 16, 1910 1 1 09,8 1 1 Patented Sept. 14.

3 SHEETS SH 2.

WITFIEEEEE:

B. C. WOOD.

SOUNDER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.16, 1910.

1,109,81 1, Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

3 SHEBTS--SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD C. WOOD, OF SOMEBVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, 'ASSIGKOR TQ SUBMABIRE SIGNAL COMPANY, 01' WATEBVILLE, MAINE,- ACOBPOBATION OF MAINE.

SOUNDEB.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

Application fled November 16, 1!?10. Serial No.

To all whom 11. may concern Be'it' known that I, Eowsno C. Woon, of Somerville in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, a citizen of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sounders, of which the following is a specification.

The purpose of the present invention is to secure as a signaling means for submarine work a 'fundamental tone substantially free from overtones and of greater energy than has been possible in the devices used heretofore in this art. For this purpose I have supported a disk in such a manner that when it is caused to vibrate by a blow in its center its fundamental tone will sound substantially free from overtones. A single circular node will thus be developed and upon that node I attach supports to the disk in such a way as not to interfere materially with the natural vibration of the disk, the clapper or other means of originating vibrations in the disk being hung or supported so as to originate the vibrations always at the same predetermined spot.

A bell when vibrated delivers a large part of its vibration to the water inside the bell where it is not so eii'ective as when delivered to the water outside as this forms the direct ath from the bell to an distant point. such a disk the delivering surface with the'exception of the edge, which is of relatively small area, is all ex to the water forming the path to the distant oint. In other words, in such a disk the e ective delivering surface is greater than in a bell of equal weight.

Another practical advanta in this form of sounder is the fact that t e disk is very easily tuned as its pitch is directly roportional to its thickness and inverse y proportional to the square of its diameter, so that b reducing its diameter or its thick ness t e pitch can be raised or lowered as desired. 7

- My invention will be understood by reference to the drawings in which are shown two ways of mounting such a disk and for convenience the means for settin the disk in vibration is shown as an onfinary bell clalpper. I a rel is a rear elevation, and Fig. 2 a 1i elevation of a device embodying my invention, Fig. 3 being a vertical section of the apparatus as shown in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 an elevation of the disk with the supportlng mechanism removed. Fig. 5 is an enlarged section detail showing the means of attachin the diskto its su ports as shown in Fig. .3, Fig. 6 being a orizontal section showing the same parts as Fig. 5. Figs. 7 and 8 are modifications which will be described below, Fig. 7 being a side elevation and Fig. 8 a rear elevat1on..

The disk in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, is lettered A and it ma be constructed of any metal having go vibratory qualities. This disk as shown in these views is'provided with three openings through it 0. These openings are preferably rectangular and are countersunk on each side of the disk,

being provided with surfaces a which a proach as they near the interior of the dis They are located at points between the center and the periphery of the disk and preferably at polnts distant from the center a proximately two-thirds the length of t e As a means of supporting the disk I have 7 shown a frame comprising spiders B, B havin three bolts 6, b, I), each bolt being provi ed with two collarsb against which the spiders B B rest and are held by means of nuts b. Two of the bolts have alsointermediate collars b' to provide ooves to receive the supportin to s C. he means for supporting the disk tween these spiders B, B comprises three airs of clamping bolts each preferably ma e in two parts, one part being a rod d riveted to the other part which is threaded at its outer end to receive a nut d. The outer end of each rod (1 is rovided with a head d, its head bein angu or to engage the inner walls a o the opening a in the disk. When the nuts are set up the heads d are pulled in op site directions so that they clamp the disk as near its central plane as is practicable. Fulcrums are thus formed at points not only mioidistant from the center of the diskbut as nearly as practicable to the center with the disk, strik' plane of the disk, thus giving a minimum of damping to the disk when it vibrates The spider B is not a complete circle but terminates in two arms e between which is pivotally mounted a. bell crank lever E carrying a clapper E. The horizontal arm of the lever E is provided with a hole to receive a ropeE by which it may be actuated by hand. This of course is a very simple way of actuating the clapper and it will be readily understood that other means may be provided instead as man ways of operating a clapper are known in the art. To hold the clapper oilfrom the disk a spring (2 is provided which is attached to the two arms e of the spider. This sprin is sufficiently strong to hold the clapper back and yet not so strong as to interfere practically with the operation of the clapper by means of the rope or other operating. mechanism.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 8 the two positions of the clapper will be noticed,in 3 it is in position to be operated to strlke the disk and in Fig. 2 it is in contact the blow.

In Figs. 7 and 8 have shown a modification of my invention in which the disk A is attached to its supporting frame F by means of sprin s a so that the vibrations of the disk will damped as little as possible. Two springs only are shown as the frame is shaped to be attached at two points only to the disk, these two points being on a circular node. Within the upper art of the frame is pivotally mounted the ever E carrying the clapper E as before and operated by the rope E The frame itself has an arm F which projects at right a les to the main portion of the frame and is provided with a supportin rope C or other means for supporting t e disk, the length of this arm and consequently the position of the supporting means being such as to cause the ap aratus as a whole to hang in a substantla y vertical plane.

There are of course other means of supporting a disk about a circular node and which will readily occur to anyone skilled in the art. Various means which are well known have been adopted in this art for causing the vibration of a vibrator body, which is to be vibrated with sufliclent energy to originate submarine sound signals. I have shown, however, the simplest construction which now occurs to me and it can be readily utilized to originate signals from shi board, for example, by lowering the disk overboard and operating the clapper b hand or by lowering the disk into a tank filled with water and clamped to the inside of a ship where the clapper may be operated by hand or otherwise as seems best.

It will be noted that in both the examples shown the lever carrying the clapper E is mounted in substantially fixed relation to the disk so that when the lever is moved to cause the. clapper to strike the disk the disk will always-be struck at its.

tones is of great carrying power; especially in submarine signaling. It is possible to secure results more ,or less valuable from a disk free to vibrate both at its edge and at its center which is mounted at other points between its center and its periphery or edge; the best results, however, are secured by mounting the disk in the manner above described.

What I claim as my invention is:-

1. The sounder above described comprising a frame, a disk and means for vibrating sald disk, said disk being fixedly attached to said frame atpoints in a circular node and said disk-vibrating means being mounted upon said frame to act upon said disk at a predetermined point within said circular node.

2. In a device of the kind described, a frame, a disk fixedly attached thereto, and means for exciting vibrations in said disk also mounted on said frame, the attachment of said disk to said frame being in a circular node on said disk whereby when vibrations are excited in said disk by said exciting means the portion of said disk representing said circular node will be held stationary with relation to said frame, and the portion of said disk within and without said node will vibrate in opposite directions about the points of attachment of said disk and frame.

3. The sounder above described compris ing a frame, a disk, and meansfor vibratin said disk, said disk being fixedly attach to said frame at points in a circular node and said disk-vibrating means being mounted upon said frame to act upon said disk at a predetermined point within said circular node in combination with means whereby said sounder ma be suspended.

4. The sounder above ascribed comprising a frame, a diskfixedl attached thereto at points in a nodal circ e, a clapper arm mounted on said frame and carrying a clapper, means for operating said clapper arm and means for su porting said sounder whizreby1 Silld soun er may be submergeil an I sai c apper operated to 've a signa 5. The sounder above described comprisa disk, a frame means for vibrating said dis and means or supporting said disk In said frame, said disk being provided with openings therethrough and said supporting means comprising clamping bolts passing th sh and ,Qpem g m pp diner tions whereby the heads of said bolts engage opposite sides of said disk, said disk being clamped between the heads of said bolts.

6. The sounder above described comprising a disk, a frame, means for vibrating said disk, and means for supporting said disk in said frame with the points of support lying in a plane parallel to and located between the faces of the disk whereby ful crums are formed about which said (lisk 10 may vibrate.

EDWARD C. WOOD.

Witnesses:

M. E. FLAHER'I'Y, GEORGE LANGTON. 

